Good Supervision of Doctorates - 8th Networking Event for Doctoral Supervisors

To begin the meeting, Prof. Dr. Klaus Becker, Vice President for Research and Knowledge Transfer and Head of the Graduate Center, welcomed all participants and informed about the current developments regarding the Graduate School for Applied Research in North Rhine-Westphalia (PK NRW) and the number of doctoral researchers at TH Köln. 'We are very pleased that the first defense of a doctorate will take place at the end of October as part of the doctorate right awarded to the Graduate School for Applied Science NRW at TH Köln in 2022', so Prof. Dr. Becker.

Mirjam Heetkamp then briefly presented the new information handbook for doctoral supervisors and doctoral researchers on good doctoral supervision. It highlights important steps in the various phases of the doctorate and describes cross-phase aspects of good supervision. The handout also refers to the RESEARCH COMP model, which can be helpful for highlighting qualification goals in discussions with doctoral researchers.  

Joelle Coutinho and Dr. Birgit Szczyrba then shared current findings from the project “Rethinking professorship careers at universities of applied sciences: Collaboration and networking” (PLan_CV) on the topic of supervision tasks and profiles in transformative research practice.

Dr. Sean Bex from the University of Ghent was invited to give a keynote speech on the topic of “Connecting the Dots - Learnings from the Implementation of an effective well-being Policy for Early Career Researchers at University Ghent”. The subsequent discussion rounds focused on the central role that doctoral supervisors play in the successful completion of a doctorate. Mutual expectation management, raising awareness of mental health and university policies were discussed.

Afterwards, there was time for exchange and networking and the supervisors had the opportunity to discuss current needs and concerns with each other and with the Vice President and Head of the Graduate Center Prof. Dr. Klaus Becker.

Currently, 233 doctoral researchers are registered at TH Köln, they are supervised by 100 professors. In addition to a variety of networking activities for doctoral researchers and supervisors, the Graduate Center offers regular office hours for those interested in doctoral studies and counseling for doctoral researchers, postdocs, and supervisors. In cooperation with various institutions of TH Köln, coaching programs for doctoral researchers, a doctoral qualification program in German and English, language learning opportunities, and several funding programs are offered.